A timeless warmth and beauty, that unmatched welcoming look and feel, unique clean lines, inherent strength, durability that lasts a number of lifetimes and all other benefits make wood among the most popular flooring choices.  However, not all wood flooring is created equal and would fit your New York home and living.  So whether you are residing in Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens, Staten Island or Manhattan; looking into your different options and weighing the advantages and disadvantages carefully would land you with the best choice to fashionably and productively complement your lifestyle.

When considering wood flooring, the selection is wide ranging.  Though this makes the selection a bit overwhelming, facing the task with a positive attitude would let you enjoy exploring your options.  They can either come as hardwoods and engineered with the later a combination of natural and man-made materials.  Some of the most popular types of hardwood include oak, walnut, maple, ash, Brazilian cherry, fir and southern yellow pine.

The factors to look into when exploring your wood flooring options include:

Budget

Wood flooring can be considered among the high end choices but proves to be a great investment not only by resale time but throughout the years as not only does it boost the overall value of your New York home but also enhances the family’s quality of living.  With this said, project budget is a crucial factor that contributes greatly to success.  In spending your hard-earned budget, the key to giving the most bang to your buck is spending wisely.  Never sacrifice quality just to save some money, if you need to cutback then look for ways to get high quality for less like availing for sales, bargains, discounts, and promotions.

Location

The area where you plan to have wood flooring installed is another major consideration.

When choosing, make sure that your choice would be durable enough to efficiently serve the functions of the area.  Ideally softer types are for places not much susceptible to scratches and other damages while harder types can be for any area.  Though more popularly used in bedrooms, entertainment areas, and other less traffic receiving places; the warmth and style that this type of flooring affords can now extend to the kitchen and even bathrooms.  With new finishes out in the market, spills and moisture does not pose much problems than before.

Finishing

This can be done to wood flooring on-site or factory-applied.  With pre-finished wood flooring, you would not have to deal with dust, fumes and waiting for the floor to be walked on.  This also proves to be tougher than that applied on-site.  The downside however is that installation may be difficult with slight unevenness in thickness and leveling as the floor has not been sanded flat.  

With finishes applied on-site, installation can be made in a more accurate manner without any unevenness.  Another thing about this is the possibility of having the wood tainted with colors of your choice to bring out more richness to the floor.

No matter which wood flooring type you end up choosing, the full benefits would not be enjoyed if the floor is not properly installed.  This makes the role of a qualified floor contractor crucial.  Remember, this material does not come cheap, so to get the return on investment expected; ensure craftsmanship.

Okay, all you wood floor owners, listen up! There are so many tips that you have been given over the years to help you maintain those beautiful wood floors. You’ve probably heard all them out there. Whether it was from a friend, or a professional, or maybe something good ole’ mom told you, or even a hint you found on the Internet, you have certainly heard many pearls of wisdom. Whichever, who do you listen to? And what is the best tip in maintaining a beautiful wood floor.

So just what is the best cleaning tip for wood floors? Is it the fact that you should never use water on your wood floors, or never allow water products or liquids to sit for any amount of time on your wood floors as water is the wood floor’s worst enemy?

Or could it be that you should use carpet rugs in high traffic areas to maintain that wonderful hardwood look. Or maybe it’s never to wear high heals on your wood floors as they can easily dent the floor? Then again, maybe it’s you should never drag furniture across a wood floor. And then again it could be that you should use protective covers under all furniture.

There are so many possibilities, and so many solutions. Who should you listen to? Should you listen to all of them or only select a few? Or should you direct all your unanswered questions to only the professionals? What and where are the best tips for wood floor cleaning out there?

Could the best tip be that you should sweep or dust mop your wood floors on a daily basis to keep debris such as pet hair, dirt, lint or dust off of your floors? Or is it that dirt, grit and sand act like sandpaper on your wood floors? Or maybe it’s the tip that using a wood floor cleaning product made specifically for your wood floors is the best tip in maintaining beautiful wood floors?

Who should you listen to, and what tips should you pay attention to? The best tip for cleaning wood floors that I can give is: listen to the tips from other wood floor owners who have beautiful, natural wood floors in the best shape. These are the people you should pay attention to. Whether it’s your mom, brother, cousin, best friend; listen to the person who has beautiful wood floors. They are the people who know how to maintain a beautiful wood floor and they have the best tips by-far. Why? Because they’ve already tested all the tips out there, and made all the mistakes for you.

So when you need to maintain a beautiful wood floor, go to the person who has those beautiful maintained wood floors in their homes and listen to all of their tips! Whether they are professionals or your favorite aunt, listen to the wood floor owner who has many years of caring for a beautiful well maintained wood floor.

Author Vincent Platania represents the Fuller Brush Company.

Fuller Brush has been in business since 1906, and offers safe, environmentally friendly products for keeping your home and your body clean.

Visit http://www.fuller-brush-products.com

What a great choice. Bamboo is one of the hottest wood flooring trends at the moment and with good reason. It’s durable, low maintenance, very pleasing to the eye and it’s not too precious to live with. Aside from those qualities, it’s also a wonderful material in terms of sustainability, the latest environmental buzz word.

Since it’s actually a grass, and can be harvested time and again from the same plant, it produces a crop every 3 to 4 years, making it very handy indeed. Even the manufacturing processes are environmentally friendly, so jump on the bandwagon and tell your friends!

Now, as for the best method to install bamboo wood flooring, well it all depends on your skills level, how much you really want to do it yourself and whether saving money is a big factor to you.

Concrete slab floor

You also have to be aware that there are some preliminaries that need to be observed before you even choose a method to install bamboo flooring. Firstly, what kind of floor do you have? A concrete slab will need to be absolutely flat and clean, not to mention dry. Bamboo is excellent for resisting moisture, but a dry surface is the best starting point for any flooring installation.

Do a moisture test by taping a plastic bag on to the cement and leave it there for 24 hours. When you remove it, if there is moisture on the plastic, then you will need to take steps to remedy it. Gluing is necessary for installing bamboo flooring to a cement slab and it’s vital that you use an adhesive recommended for this material.

Wood sub floor

If you have a wood sub floor, it too must be clean, flat and dry. Sheets of ply of a minimum thickness of 5/8″ are most commonly used for wood sub floors. Remember that if you’re installing the sub floor over a crawlspace, a moisture barrier of 1/4″ polyurethane sheeting is advised to go over the soil.

Glue down installation

After acclimating the bamboo you’ll be using on your floors for 2 to 3 days before installation, you can then set to work. Manufacturers recommend glue down as the best method to install bamboo wood flooring, though it can also be installed using nails or staples. Nailing and stapling require more expertise and specialized equipment so unless you’re keen to go the difficult route, gluing is far preferable for these reasons.

Before you begin any type of remodeling work, you need to determine how you will go about it. Some graph paper will help you to create a diagram of your floor to scale. Mark in all the measurements and from those you can calculate how many bamboo planks you’ll require to finish the job.

Figure a 1/2″ expansion space between planks and walls into your calculations otherwise they’ll be incorrect. Installing the bamboo flooring itself is relatively easy but if your measurements are out, you will make the job harder.

Also before you start, it’s a good idea to spread out the bamboo flooring planks to get a good look at the natural variations in color. This will help you determine how to distribute them in a way that allows the contrasts to work successfully. Otherwise you could wind up with dark boards all in one area and lighter ones elsewhere; no balance at all.

The right glue for the job

Always use manufacturer recommended adhesives when you install bamboo wood flooring. Using an inferior product or one that is not intended for this kind of flooring will bring costly results. It would be a great shame to install your flooring then have to pull it all up and start again.

In summary, the best method to install wood flooring is the glue down method. For nailing or stapling, call in professional wood flooring contractors, who have all the expertise and tools needed for the task.